Awaken To Collioure, France

Now if there was ever a place on earth which would make you step back into your childhood, it’s Collioure. Located in the south of France on the coast just a stone’s throw away from Spain, Collioure will take you on a dreamy journey back into time, back into the playground of childish play and easy living.

Free as a bird, Collioure swings to the beat of a childish drum, its history scribbled with crayon and its air filled with squealing, joyful children and sea salt from her lapping rhythmical tide that washes away footprints of frivolity and dance.

Sure, there are some fancy restaurants, Art galleries and cafes lining the esplanade filled with oh so chic leather loafers and boat shoes and flapping whitest of white blouses with upturned collars under wide brimmed Helen Kaminski cane hats. You know who I mean. What you see in their eyes here though is their secret lust for freedom. And you’ll find it here too- the feeling that you get when you feel like your old self- your childhood self with responsibility gone and none taken.

I love it here. You can’t help but love Collioure. You’ll be reminded to slap on some sunscreen while you lick ice cream and watch others do cartwheels in the sand; the same sand that massaged the toes of Matisse and his family, or Derain or Picasso and a whole bunch of sun loving, crayon loving class mates.

They stayed for so long in Collioure that they formed their own art group and called themselves “la cage aux Fauves’ meaning “The Wild Beasts’. Something tells me they may have had their own group leader and their own rules like any other groupie. With vibrant brushstrokes and the freedom to paint the grass orange and the sky red, these guys became pretty popular.You can wander round the town and walled harbour…

and check out their original vantage points and paintings. It’s like Showcase Day at school, only outside. Pretty cool.

Go underwater too and Collioure’s bright palette of sea creatures are frolicking about your Go Pro and swim togs. Everyone’s in on the action here.

And yes, there may be brief times when you think that her playground is too crowded especially in Summer but that won’t stop you from having great fun like you did way back then.